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How do media make use of stereotypes and misconceptions regarding different ethnic groups and visible minorities? What are the barriers to representation faced by such groups and in what ways are they most likely to be represented? This section explores these questions and more.

Teachers who include media literacy in their classrooms often face issues that don’t arise in other subjects. Nothing illustrates this better than the issue of diversity in media. It’s not unreasonable for teachers to see the topic as a can of worms and be concerned about offending students and their parents – not to mention worrying about what the students themselves might say. At the same time, it’s a topic that is simply too important to be ignored: what we see in media hugely influences how we see others, ourselves and the world. As a result, an ability to analyze media depictions of diversity is not only a key element of being media literate, it’s essential to understanding many of the social issues and concerns that we face as citizens. That’s why Media Awareness Network has developed That’s Not Me – a new online tutorial for professional development to help educators and community leaders approach this issue through key concepts of media literacy.

Since before Canada became a Confederation, visible minority groups have been creating their own media: the first issue of the Provincial Freeman, which was a weekly newspaper edited and published by African Canadians in the Province of Canada West (now Ontario), was first published on March 24, 1854.

Media speaks volumes about what is important in a society. George Gerbner of Temple University discusses how portrayals in media can affect how children see themselves and others: he argues that if you are over-represented, you see yourself as having many opportunities and choices while if you’re under-represented, you see yourself as having the opposite.